There was a sigh of relief last night as Paul O’Connell came through unscathed before boarding the Lions convey.That Munster got the win came purely as a bonus.

Johnny Murphy, Paddy Butler and BJ Botha were all on the mark for Munster, who laboured throughout. Indeed, the writing seemed to be on the cards for the visitors at one stage as indiscipline and poor defending saw Zebre go down the tunnel with a 22-14 lead. This after early tries by Murphy and Butler had set the ball rolling for Rob Penney’s men.